


Three Little Words

by MissErikaCourt



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Love, Sherlolly - Freeform, Spoilers for The Final Problem, The Final Problem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 21:08:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9344906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissErikaCourt/pseuds/MissErikaCourt
Summary: Sherlock is faced with a problem that he isn't sure if he can solve. Eurus has him right where she wants him, and all he has to do is get Molly Hooper to say those three little words that have been on the tip of her tongue since the moment she met him: I love you.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has major spoilers for the season finale of Sherlock that just aired. I was so inspired that I needed to write something that was closely base on what happened in the episode. Just kind of what I think might be going on in Sherlock's head while this specific event is happening. I hope you all enjoy my take on what happened!

“The clock is ticking, Sherlock. Poor Molly Hooper will be blown to smithereens unless you get her to say the cipher code.” Eurus taunted him as he stood in front of an empty coffin, John and Mycroft by his sides. He held the gun that she'd told him to take with him, and considered just using it to shoot the television that she kept appearing on in hopes that it would shatter some kind of illusion, because what was happening to him today couldn't be real. None of it could be real.

“What's the cipher?” He asked, intentionally looking anywhere but the cameras that were watching them.

“You know what it is.”

“No, I don't.”

“Come on, Shirly, you have to know.”

“Sherlock, you do know.” John chimed in, a deadly serious expression on his face. He knew it, and he knew that Sherlock knew it. “You have to get her to say...”

“I love you...She has to say 'I love you' or her flat blows up.” Sherlock said, finally admitting what he'd hoped wouldn't be the answer.

“I'll give her a call from your mobile and we'll get things moving.” Eurus said with a quirk of a smile as they heard a dial tone and the numbers being dialed. As the phone started ringing, pictures of Molly's flat popped up on the flat screen. Sherlock could see Molly's mobile lying on the counter in her kitchen, and she was just feet away from it, making a rather large cup of tea. The phone rang and rang as they watched her. Every so often she would glance at it, but she never made a move to pick it up.

“Why isn't she answering?” Sherlock asked, puzzled by her behavior.

“She's making tea.” Mycroft said, moving to stand beside his brother.

“She's ignoring my phone call.”

“It seems she's too busy to answer your phone call.”

“Don't be ridiculous, Mycroft, she always answers my phone calls.”

“Not this time.” Eurus said again as Molly's voice mail picked up. “I'll try just one more time.” She dialed the number again and this time Molly only let it ring three times before picking up.

“Hello Sherlock.” She said, sounding annoyed.

“Molly, I need you to do something for me.” He said immediately, without thinking of the repercussions.

“I'm not at the lab, Sherlock, I'm having a bad day. If you need something you'll have to call whoever's working today.”

“No, it's not about that. I just need you to say something for me, and I need you to say it without asking why.”

“I'm really not in the mood, Sherlock.”

“Please Molly, it's very important. It's a kind of experiment.”

“I'm not an experiment.” She said, a bit of anger edging her voice now.

“No! No, that's not what I meant. Of course you're not an experiment, I just need you to help me with something.” Sherlock's words had come out a bit too urgently, a bit too rushed, and Eurus noticed.

“Sherlock, gentler. You're hinting too much that something is wrong.”

“Well what is it Sherlock, what do you want me to do?” Molly asked again. Sherlock's eyes were locked on the screen. He could see her plain as day in front of him, and he could also see the countdown that was now down to two minutes.

“I need you to say 'I love you'.” He said, knowing that he would get a bad reaction. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he said it, only opening them again to see how Molly was reacting on the screen.

“Goodbye, Sherlock.” Molly said, pulling the phone away from her ear.

“No! No, don't hang up Molly please don't hang up! I just...I just need you to say it! I can't say why, but please, I need you to do this one thing for me. If it's the last favor you ever do for me, just say it.”

“Sherlock...you know I can't...” She said, her voice quieter now.

“Why?” He asked, desperately.

“Because...” Molly's hand went to her cheek, as if she were trying to somehow soothe herself with her own touch.

“Because why?” Sherlock urged.

“Because it's true.”

“If it's true then you shouldn't have a problem saying it.”

“I can't.”

“Molly, please, it's important. This case is very important, you just have to say it. What do I have to do to get you to do this?” Sherlock asked frantically, yet somehow he still kept his voice even.

“I want you to say it first.” She said, and at first he wasn't sure if he'd heard her right.

“Christ...” John said as he paced in a small circle, then locked his eyes back on the screen.

“S-say it first?” Sherlock asked. How could she expect him to say it first? She knew that he was incapable of such an emotion. At least that's what he'd been telling himself all these years. But perhaps that had changed now. He'd loved Mary, in the way that one loves a friend, and John the same way. In fact, he could without a doubt say that he had at least some love for all of his friends, Lestrade included.

“Yes. I want you to say it first, and I want you to say it like you mean it.” Molly said, her voice suddenly stern, with a hint of sadness.

“Molly I...”

“If it's so important you shouldn't have a problem saying it first, so that I can say what you need me to say to solve your case.”

“I...” He hesitated because he wasn't sure if he was ready to admit such a feeling to her. Yes, he loved her, but could he tell her that? Could he allow Eurus to see his true feelings for Molly? Apparently she'd already picked up on it, or else she wouldn't have put him in this situation. The clock was ticking, only a minute and thirty seconds left. Moriarty's voice played over the speaker 'tick tock tick tock tick tock'. “Molly, I love you. I love you more than perhaps any one else on the face of this planet. I love the way you dress even though most people think it's tacky, I love your hair when you put it up while you're working. I love your lips even though they're thin, and I really do think that red lipstick suits you. I love you for your unwavering loyalty to me, no matter how much I've hurt you. I love you Molly Hooper. I love you!”

She hesitated for a moment, and Eurus must have zoomed in the camera on Molly's face so that Sherlock could see the tears in her eyes as she cradled her mobile in both hands, holding it close to her face. She sniffled a bit, and wiped the tears away from her face as the clock counted down. 5...4...3...2...

“I love you.” She finally said, and the clock stopped with two seconds to spare. The call ended and John looked at his friend.

“Sherlock, are you okay?” He asked,

“I did it, I won! Eurus, tell me how to save the little girl! I solved your puzzle, I won!” He said, but he wasn't talking to John. He was angry, and it was evident by the way he gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“Silly Sherlock, you haven't won. I didn't rig that poor girl's flat to explode, that would have been awfully sloppy of me now wouldn't it? I just wanted to see what would happen. It was very interesting, all those little emotions playing out like that. Worry, anger, sadness...love...That was real love that you confessed to her. Mycroft had told me that you used that pathologist for your cases and that the two of you were close, but I had no idea just how close you'd grown. Fascinating.” Eurus finished speaking and another door opened. “You can make your way to the next puzzle whenever you're ready. I'll be waiting.”

“Let's go then Sherlock.” John said as he moved toward the door. Sherlock walked back to the coffin and laid down his gun. He walked over to where the lid to the coffin was leaning against the wall, took it, and placed it on top, raking his hand over the gold plate that read 'I love you'. Thinking of the torture that Molly must have gone through on that phone call was enough to drive him mad.

“Are you ready?” John asked. Mycroft had already stepped through the door and John was about to do the same before he looked back at Sherlock and asked him that question.

“No.” Sherlock whispered, and John was about to ask what he had said before he reared back and punched straight through the lid of the coffin, and he didn't stop until the whole thing was destroyed, laying in pieces, scattered around the room.

“Sherlock, I know that this is torture, but we've got to keep going.” John said, standing in front of a disheartened Sherlock. He'd slumped down to the floor and he was leaning against the wall, his head in his hands. “We're soldiers today, Sherlock.”

“Soldiers.” Sherlock answered, and as he took John's outstretched hand and was pulled to his feet, he swore a vow to himself that if he got out of this thing alive he would go straight to Molly Hooper and tell her that everything he'd said today was true. He'd go to her and beg her to forgive him for all the stupid things he'd done to her, and everything he'd put her through. And if she'd have him, he would be hers, but only if he could make it out of this alive. And he would, because those three little words that Molly Hooper said to him would be his fuel for the rest of this endeavor. _I love you_.


End file.
